Dame Nellie Melba

Who is Dame Nellie Melba?

Dame Nellie Melba was born Helen Porter Mitchell in 1861 in Richmond, Melbourne, and became the first Australian to achieve international recognition as a classical musician. She took her stage name "Melba" from Melbourne, her home city. Renowned for her pure, agile soprano voice, she made her operatic debut in Brussels in 1887 and went on to become one of the most celebrated singers of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras, performing leading roles at Covent Garden in London and at opera houses across Europe and America. Two culinary creations were named in her honour by the chef Auguste Escoffier: the dessert Peach Melba and Melba toast. She was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1918 for her wartime charitable work. Her portrait appeared on the Australian one-hundred-dollar note. She died in Sydney in 1931.

Sources: Nellie Melba, 'Melodies and Memories' (autobiography, 1925) · Australian Dictionary of Biography, entry 'Melba, Dame Nellie' · Grove Music Online, entry 'Melba, Dame Nellie'